Can they do that?

Hi all,

As a part of my contract i was required to place a sign on my block to clearly establish it to the builders, when i got to the site to put the sign up today i saw that the temporary fencing had gone up, the site scrape was done and front water meter and tap was installed.

I was supposed to have a site start in April, can they just start whenever they like without approval from the owners, especially since the contract specified April?

Also, the tap and front water meter are bang smack in the middle of our front yard, which i was trying to avoid through consultation with the site supervisor,with whom we have not even been introduced to yet. Is there much involved in relocating the tap and meter to a more asthetically pleasing and convenient position?

I cannot help but think that this whole process is going to happen with us, THE CUSTOMER, completely out of the loop.

Thanks in advance,

Ratter

Well I guess the positive thing is they started before their said time!
Which is better than a month later.

As far as the water mains goes…..who cares who much is involved, its your house and land, get them to move it, as you were not notified, so its their fault.

DO NOT ….let yourself be left out of the loop! First thing Tuesday, on the phone and make it clear to them….not good enough!!

And you want a full Scope of Works ASAP!

Good luck.

Wow, siteworks starting early. Who'd have thought it.
Perhaps you should ask them "since you started early does that mean you'll finish early".

Personally I don't see a problem with them starting site works early, providing you own the land, and all council / covenant approvals are in place. Generally they builders set the start date based on when they can schedule the works... If they can bring the works forward, then what's the issue?

If they put taps / water meters in the wrong spots, that's a different matter. Discuss the locations with them, but don't criticise them for starting early...It's a GOOD thing.

The local water company actually put in the water meter and tap - its not the builders. I know this from experience as our meter and tap got put on the wrong block and it took 3 months for the water company to come and move it! Not sure who notifies them - it may be that the council notify the water co. after the building permit goes through?

Congratulations on starting the building process - hopefully you will get updates from the company and not be left too much in the dark.

cheers,
Trina

The tap can be moved but it will cost you.. depends on how far you move it.

omeone else had the same problem on here , cost i think a few hundred or less. thread on here somewhere.

As a comparison, the last thing we were requested to do by the sales rep before we signed the contract, was to mark on the site plan exactly where we wanted the water meter & tap installed. Apparently if it was then installed in the wrong spot we could get it relocated at no cost. We nominated that it be located half way between the boundary and what will be the driveway (a total space of approx 10m, so 5m from each), to make sure it didn't interfere with anything. As it turned out it was installed about 1m from the driveway, but it's not really a hassle so it can stay where it is.

You were lucky Eager i wasnt even asked where i wanted the tap..

The same thing happened to me when my builders started. I took my sister to have a look at the block, expecting to find it overrun with weeds, and found a tap installed and the site scrape had been done. When I contacted the builders about it they had to send the site supervisor out to confirm that the works I said had been done had in fact been done . I also enquired about having the tap and meter moved as I don't like the position they've been put in and I've been advised by my CSR that the location was selected by City West Water and the builders can't move it. I'm going to wait for my driveway to be laid and then see if I still don't like the position of the tap and if not, I'll contact City West Water and see if its possible to have them move it.

I was shocked when mine started early too (I was expecting to have to wait another month) but there's not much that can be done about it after the work has commenced.... I was upset, like you, when I found they'd started early, but now I'm getting very annoyed that construction has come to a dead stop - I guess there's no pleasing me!

I,d love to turn up at our block and see some sign of activity...even if it was just the builders sign or porta loo Oh well,I can only dream....

But yes,I understand and know the frustration of not being properly informed and feeling like a total 'outsider' and not the paying customer!

Good luck with it all and I hope everything goes well for you

Cheers Mel

Our tap positions are shown on our working drawings and were shown on original plan, at selections we brought up that we wanted them moved and this was altered to show the new places on the final plan.
Small fee for moving them (of course ) and small extra cost for extra metres of piping in the case of the back garden one.

Perhaps it varies from state to state whether builder or state water dept. has the say on where they go?

Same here... location of tap wasn't on the plans.. and we weren't asked where we wanted it placed.

meter box was on the plans though.

We had our tap placed nicely in the middle of our driveway wich caused a few headaches along the way. We were never advised where the tap would be situated and it wasnt in our plans. We made the builder move it at no extra cost, they would only move it 3 meters from the point of where it was installed, any more and we would have to pay the rest